Fake product reviews have become a real issue across the web. Bad actors have found ways to flood sites like Amazon with fake reviews to promote some products or hurt others. Now Amazon has announced a new AI system to help address this issue and give customers a quicker way to get the reviews they need.
Amazon on Monday said it plans to use AI to summarize reviews for customers and quickly give them the highlights. This new AI system will also help spot potential fake reviews.
“We welcome authentic reviews—whether positive or negative—but strictly prohibit fake reviews that intentionally mislead customers by providing information that is not impartial, authentic, or intended for that product or service. We continue to invest significant resources to proactively stop fake reviews. This includes machine learning models that analyze thousands of data points to detect risk, including relations to other accounts, sign-in activity, review history, and other indications of unusual behavior, as well as expert investigators that use sophisticated fraud-detection tools to analyze and prevent fake reviews from ever appearing in our store. The new AI-generated review highlights use only our trusted review corpus from verified purchases, ensuring that customers can easily understand the community’s opinions at a glance,” said Vaughn Schermerhorn, director of community shopping at Amazon.
Amazon has also been going after the sources of fake reviews with several lawsuits. In June, Amazon filed lawsuits against companies offering fake reviews that the company said is harming its retail partners. Here’s a rundown of the suits:
Amazon v. Nice Discount: The owners and operators of Nice Discount allegedly facilitate fake positive reviews, fake feedback, and other fake content through their “Product Tester Club.” Reviewers who sign up are incentivized to write fake positive reviews or fake feedback in exchange for product refunds or cash. The defendants connect bad actors operating Amazon selling accounts with reviewers, and instruct reviewers on how and when to leave fake reviews or feedback in order to create a false, authentic appearance. Case No. 23-2-10603-2 SEA
Amazon v. Littlesmm: The website Littlesmm allegedly sells fake reviews to bad actors operating Amazon selling accounts. The website offers packages of fake reviews in Amazon stores across Australia, Canada, and the U.S., ranging from $20 to $440. The defendants use Amazon customer accounts in their control to leave fake positive reviews. They also offer fake negative reviews to undermine their competitors’ product listing pages. Case No. 23-2-10452-8 SEA
Amazon v. MangoCity: The owners and operators of MangoCity allegedly sell fake reviews ranging from $50 to $4,000 through their website, video chats, and email. After payment, the defendants use Amazon customer accounts in their control to leave fake 5-star reviews on product listing pages. In addition, the defendants offer fake negative reviews that they post on competitors’ products. Case No. 23-2-11278-4 SEA
Amazon v. Reddit Marketing Pro: The owners and operators of Reddit Marketing Pro allegedly offer fake positive and negative reviews and other fraudulent services to bad actors operating Amazon selling accounts. In exchange for fees, ranging from $99 for five fake reviews to $6,999 for 500 fake reviews, defendants use Amazon customer accounts that they control to leave fake reviews on product listing pages in Amazon stores. Defendants also sell fake “Questions and Answers” to manipulate the content on product listing pages. Case No. 23-2-11265-2 SEA
“Our goal is to ensure that every review in Amazon’s stores is trustworthy and reflects customers’ actual experiences. Amazon welcomes authentic reviews—whether positive or negative —but strictly prohibits fake reviews that intentionally mislead customers,” said David Montague, Amazon’s vice president of Selling Partner Risk. “We continue to innovate on our proactive technology to detect fake reviews and other indications of unusual behavior. Another way we fight fake reviews is through legal action. Not only are we targeting the source of the problem but we’re sending a clear message that there’s no place for abuse in our store and we will hold fraudsters accountable.”
As always, fighting things like fake reviews is no easy task but Amazon seems to be putting extra effort into making the reviews on Amazon more trustworthy.